October 2017 Deacons Leter

As we approach Autumn with its rich hues of burnished gold and reds, berries forming in the hedgerows for the coming winter months, we bid summer farewell and welcome glorious autumn crispness and creeping darkness. Life looks in on itself, and seeds lie hidden in the warm earth until Spring returns once more.

Notice how your plans are developing. Which ones need to lay dormant until Spring? Which have already fruited?

There is a time and a Season for everything. We have just rejoiced at God’s bountiful Harvest which has been gathered in after it has been nurtured through the Spring and Summer by the warmth of the sun and the refreshing rain. Nature follows a natural cycle for its survival, taking rest and sleep in preparation for its burst of energy in the Spring, followed by rich abundance in Summer.

Just as nature stores up its energy during the latent months, withdrawing by dropping leaves, plants wither and decay, and seeds fall and germinate in Autumn; we too, should take stock, and look back, and admire what we have achieved over the past year: in our personal lives, as a Village, and as a Church. We have welcomed our new Pastor into our newly refurbished spiritual home where people feel ‘at home’ and at peace – and where a special welcome is extended to all newcomers, where we can all grow together.

There have been many changes all around us, but these allow new beginnings to emerge. We remember the past with fondness and gratitude for what it has given us today. We must now build upon that, as we stand at the twilight between Summer and approaching Winter.

Now is the time for bringing together new ideas to benefit both young and old for our future together, in the Village and Church – pulling together. We must welcome these dark days as an opportunity to shift our focus from achieving and doing, into reflecting and assimilating all that we hope to ‘build’ in the future, and our intention to move our ideas forward.

In the meantime, we must give thanks for all the food God provides for us, for the sun and rain which ripens it, and for all that the Earth provides for us – and for all life. As we celebrate the ending of the Earth’s Year, and beginning of shorter, darker days, we must honour what has finished and the lessons we have learned, and plant the seeds of our future in our hearts

And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labour, for these are gifts from God. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 v. 13